SoCal Sees Unusually Heavy Early January Rainfall After Dry Start To Season

Southern California was soaked by a series of weekend storms that delivered several inches of rain across coastal and inland communities, pushing some locations to record or near-record rainfall totals for the start of January, according to weather data.

“It’s been an interesting season,” said Mike Wofford, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard, told the Los Angeles Times. “We’re way above normal for precipitation.”

As of Sunday morning, the Southland had already received 14 inches of rain as of Oct 1, even though the period from October to mid-November was bone dry.

“There’s the potential that we’ll already meet our average rainfall for the entire 12-month period by later today if we end up getting half an inch or more of rain,” Robbie Munroe, a NWS forecaster told the Times.

In downtown Los Angeles, 2.47 inches of rain had fallen by Jan. 5 — more than four times the normal amount for early January, which typically averages about 0.57 inches, according to National Weather Service climate records. While the total remains below the city’s all-time January records, meteorologists say the early-month deluge places the region well ahead of seasonal averages.

Volunteer rain gauges also recorded striking totals elsewhere in Southern California.

A San Diego-area CoCoRaHS station reported 2.57 inches of rain by Jan. 5 and Accuweather reported Sunday that San Diego is at 232 percent of its historical average. According to the National Weather Service, normal rainfall for the first five days of the year typically averages about 0.28 inches.

In Orange County, a Newport Beach rain gauge measured 1.20 inches of rain through Jan. 5, placing the area within a quarter-inch of its wettest January-to-date total since records began in 2019, according to CoCoRaHS data.

On average, the Newport Beach Harbor station records about 2.2 inches of rain in the month of January, according to data collected from 1991 to 2020 from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Inland areas also saw significant rainfall. A Temecula-area CoCoRaHS station recorded 2.79 inches of rain during the first five days of January, marking the wettest start to the year since the gauge was installed in 2024. The same site measured 0.62 inches of rain on Jan. 5 alone, a notably heavy daily total for the inland valley.

According to data from NOAA, a nearby Murrieta station typically has recorded an average of 2.66 inches of rain from 1991 to 2020.

CoCoRaHS, or the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network, is a volunteer-based observation system that collects precipitation data at individual rain gauges. Measurements reflect conditions at specific locations and may not represent citywide totals.

Forecasters said additional storms later this month could further boost rainfall totals, raising the possibility of an even wetter January if the pattern continues.

Although the storms did not produce widespread cold or low elevation snow, the storms flooded roadways, stalled holiday travel routes and killed at least two people in the Southland since Jan. 1.

On Saturday, a man died after being swept away in a creek in Santa Barbara County as heavy rain brought road closures and flash flood warnings to the area

And on New Year's Day, a woman's body was pulled from the Santa Ana River.

Her family is now raising funds to support funeral expenses and support for her two daughters.

"This sudden and heartbreaking loss has deeply affected our family, and we are doing everything we can to support Alejandra’s girls as they face an uncertain future without their mother," wrote Michelle Flores Norman, the organizer of the fundraiser.

On Sunday, a man was also rescued from "cold, fast-moving" water during the storm in Orange County. He was hospitalized and his condition has not been disclosed as of Monday.

On the bright side, the state isn't contending with wildfires the way it was this time last year. On Sunday, rain continued to doused the region on the anniversary of the devastating Palisades and Eaton Fires.

But the early season rain won't exactly guarantee a light fire season.

“The amount of rain that we’ve gotten is likely going to ensure that we’re not going to have any large fires in the next couple of weeks, but beyond that we really can’t say,” David Acuña, a battalion chief with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection told the Times. “If we were to transition into a dry spell, it does not take very long for those green and brown grasses to dry out completely.”